PortalBox

PortalBox is a simple addon that gathers all of your portal and teleport spells into a single aesthetically-pleasing window and tracks your Runes of Teleportation and Runes of Portals. Its main window can be invoked by the following commands:

/port
/portalbox
Clicking on its minimap icon

New in 1.1:
• The PortalBox minimap button can now be locked.

• Tol Barad buttons.

• TOC updated for 4.3.

Fixed in 1.1:
• Cataclysm-specific errors fixed. Thanks Kharthus!

• Level requirements for portals and teleports updated to be in line with Cataclysm.

• "Keep window open after casting" option now acts properly under all circumstances.

• Version raised to 1.1 to account for dodzilla's fan update versioned at 1.0.

1.1 - Based on 0.9 fan update. Added Tol Barad, adjusted layout to accommodate more buttons, and brought "learned at" levels in line with Cataclysm. Also added minimap icon locking feature. Updated TOC to 4.3. Version number changed to 1.1 advance past dodzilla's 1.0 fan update.
0.8 - Added option to detach button from minimap, added right-click minimap button to open options panel, added /port config and /portalbox config commands, and fixed old slash commands. Fixed "close upon casting" bug. TOC updated for 3.3.
0.7 - Changed under-the-hood code to work on non-English clients, added compact mode, made the main window movable, and changed window closure upon casting to close at the start of a cast instead of afterwards. Also changed the strata level of the main window and minimap button to something more appropriate.
0.6 - Added Dalaran support, minimap button hiding, window closure upon casting, and untrained portal dimming. Fixed an error that occurs upon first run of addon. Also fixed bug of eating keystrokes while window was open and made a couple of aesthetic changes. Version number 0.6 used to avoid any possible confusion caused by the 0.5 fan update
0.2 - Added support for Horde mages, changed close button aesthetics
0.1 - Initial Public Release

Originally posted by iindigo
. . .
As for the window, I might make compact mode much more compact in the next version, but the original window will remain its original size. It was designed with minimum UI scale in mind... I find it surprising that so many run WoW with UI scaling disabled. Besides that, I was trying to make a break away from the scores of addons that are so utilitarian that they're horribly ugly.

First of all, I'm glad you've updated this mod. I really do appreciate mod authors and their work, especially considering it's not a paying gig. Good job on fixing the close-after-cast feature too.

But as for the compact mode/size discussion, I share the point of view of the majority of people who commented on this mod back when you first posted version 0.7. I wish it didn't fill so much of the screen, even for the brief amount of time it's up there. I've already edited the scale values in the appropriate places in the .lua and .xml files to make the window somewhat smaller. But if I reduce the scale values enough to make the window as small as I'd like, the buttons are really tiny. So the main problem is the background graphic itself. Sure it's pretty. But pretty isn't what I want out of this type of mod. I don't need titles over the buttons to tell me which ones are Teleports and which ones are Portals either. I really just want to see the buttons themselves, and those just long enough for me to click the one I want.

So here's what I think you should do when/if you write a newer version:

1. Leave the default size and graphic the way it is, for people who want it to be huge and look pretty.

2. Create a size slider, or add a couple of extra compact modes, for people who want the window to be much smaller than it is now (Yes, I do use UI scale and have that turned down a lot already, and it's still too big.)

3. Add a windowless mode, where the only thing that's shown is two rows of buttons. Although it's not a big deal, the only thing I wouldn't mind seeing in this mode is a city abbreviation (IF, SW, Shat, etc.) superimposed on the button itself, or perhaps in a small title bar right above the buttons. You might call this mode utilitarian, but many people would call it keeping their UI clean and space-efficient.

4. Keybindings. I created a macro on my G15 keyboard to type in "/port" for me so I can open and close the mod with one keypress. But there really ought to be a direct keybinding available for this. (I can't stand cluttered minimaps either, so that button was the first thing to go.) It might also be cool to have the ability to keybind each teleport or portal individually.

Nice addon, I just found it a few days ago and I love it. It is one of those simple, goodlooking addons that just does what it should do.

This made me remove the ugly portalbar I had on the screen before.

Only thing I felt missing was an LDB launcher so I could remove the minimap icon. I like to click, but I also like a clean minimap :-) So I made a simple LDB launcher for PortalBox and uploaded it as an additional addon over here (http://www.wowinterface.com/download...PortalBox.html)

Originally posted by iindigo I'll see about changing it to close window at the start of any port/teleport cast.

A free-floating minimap button is already in progress and should be in the next version.

As for the window, I might make compact mode much more compact in the next version, but the original window will remain its original size. It was designed with minimum UI scale in mind... I find it surprising that so many run WoW with UI scaling disabled. Besides that, I was trying to make a break away from the scores of addons that are so utilitarian that they're horribly ugly.

I think it looks amazing. I almost want to level a mage JUST so I can use this addon.

I wanted to thank you for this addon. I recently decided to try my hand at building a UI that was close to the original in-game aesthetic as possible while still being functional and pleasant to look at. This meant I didn't really want to deal with FuBar-esque bar mods or oPie, as wonderful as those addons are. PortalBox is perfect for what I had in mind. It looks lovely and is easily accessible with a simple slash command.

My only qualm is as other people have mentioned, the "Keep Window Open After Casting Portal or Teleport" box being not checked still means the window is kept open after casting and has to be closed manually.

Thank you again for all your hard work. PortalBox is something that looks and feels like it should be part of the base game, you should be proud!

I'll see about changing it to close window at the start of any port/teleport cast.

A free-floating minimap button is already in progress and should be in the next version.

As for the window, I might make compact mode much more compact in the next version, but the original window will remain its original size. It was designed with minimum UI scale in mind... I find it surprising that so many run WoW with UI scaling disabled. Besides that, I was trying to make a break away from the scores of addons that are so utilitarian that they're horribly ugly.

Originally posted by wintermute just done some "self editing"
and i made my portal box a lot smaller looks less chunky

. . .

this can also be done in the xml file to alter the "initial" values as well, look for the similar statements in the xml file

I had to make those scale changes in both the .lua and the .xml file. Otherwise, when I closed and re-opened the mod using the mini-map button or slash command, the scale reverted back to defaults.

I did also try to see if I could find the issue with the window staying open.

Code:

if (KeepWindowOpen == "0") then
PortalboxMainFrame:Hide();
PortalboxHordeFrame:Hide();
end

This code I saw in the .lua didn't look right to me. It seemed like == "0" should be == "1" or = "0". But I really don't know much about programming or .lua myself, and neither of those changes coupled with checking or unchecking the box in-game made any difference. The window always stayed open.

At the moment I use some bars I set up in AutoBar for portals/teleports, but since I use another mod for bars, I wanted to drop AutoBar for a lighter-weight option. I tried PortalBox 0.6, and had hoped 0.7 would work well for me. But IMO there are a few issues that need to be addressed before Portalbox will be a good replacement for me. Here are my issues/thoughts about this mod:

From Addon Info descriptionWhen "close window upon portal cast" is enabled, the window will close at the beginning of the cast instead of after it.

From the 0.7 Read Me!.rtf file. . . and changed window closure upon casting to close at the start of a cast instead of afterwards.

This just isn't working for me. There is no "close window upon portal cast" option. And just like another poster said, my "Keep Window Open After Casting Portal or Teleport" box is NOT checked, but the window stays open until I close it with the X. It does not go away on its own, period - not at the start of the cast or even after the cast finishes. I'd prefer it to go away immediately. In the rare event I click the wrong destination, I can just bring up the window again. That's FAR better than staring at the window for any length of time at all, or having to click the X each and every time, during the hundreds of casts where I do pick the correct destination.

Mini-map button. It would be nice to have the mini-map button be completely detachable. But in my personal opinion it's not a high priority, especially since I usually prefer slash commands.

Opening Options. Regardless of where the mini-map button is, a left-click should open the portal window, and a right-click should bring up the mod's options. That would be a lot easier than pressing Esc > Interface > Addons > Portal Box. Also, for the slash command users, adding a "/port config" option would be quicker too. (Of course, not to be mean, but the options need to work for this to matter.) NOTE: As has been mentioned by others, /port works, but /portalbox does not. Which isn't surprising, since the .lua sets /port and /portals as the two slash commands. But since /port is the shortest, it's the only one that I really need anyway.

Window layout. Sure, the window with its background is pretty. But to be honest it's fluff. I don't need a background picture taking up screen space, nor do I need to see the title of the mod - I know what mod I use for what. I'm here on this forum, right? The window needs to be a LOT smaller. Even with the "compact" option in 0.7 it's way too big. (I will look at modifying the .lua as the previous poster mentioned.) The buttons should be closer together. The background space at the top, at the bottom, on the sides, and in between the two rows of buttons all needs to be trimmed to a minimum. Which row is for Teleports, and which is for Portals is obvious too, from the icons. But I would like to see small captions though, for which location is which, even if abbreviations were used: Sw, If, Darn, Exo, Ther, Dal. I also don't care about seeing how many reagents I have. I use other mods for tracking those, and I always have plenty. But if that is kept, then IMO it should be squeezed in at the side of each row.

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